The News in Brief

Robert Kilborn and Yvonne Zipp, The Christian Science Monitor

The US

More prominent Democrats joined the call for an independent
counsel to investigate political fund-raising. US Sen. Russell
Feingold of Wisconsin and former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey
said on the NBC program "Meet the Press" that such a move appeared
to be the only way to "clear the air" over controversial practices
linked to the Clinton White House. Democratic national chairman Roy
Romer also said he would not oppose the appointment of a special
counsel.

A key House Republican accused the Clinton White House of
seeking a "heads up" from the Justice Department on possible
funneling of Chinese government funds to the Democratic National
Committee. The Washington Post reported that Government Reform and
Oversight Committee chairman Dan Burton of Indiana wrote to
Attorney General Janet Reno expressing "grave concern" that the
White House had asked for and received information that could
involve top administration officials. China denies making such
contributions, which would violate US law.
US Rep. John Kasich (R) of Ohio recommended postponing action on
a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. Kasich, who chairs
the House Budget Committee, told the CBS program "Face the Nation"
that more public support for the measure is needed. The amendment
is opposed by the Clinton administration and by most Democrats in
Congress.
The US Supreme Court declined to hear a dispute over term limits
for members of Congress. Instead, the justices let stand an
Arkansas Supreme Court ruling on the issue. It invalidated a ballot
initiative urging a constitutional amendment that would set the
length of time members of Congress could serve. The High Court also
declined to rule on whether journalists may record police searches
of private dwellings. But they did agree to hear an Illinois case
on penalizing companies that fail to meet a set deadline for
reporting their use of hazardous chemicals.
Some of the women Army recruits who complained of sexual
harassment were involved in social relationships with the male
superiors they later accused, The Baltimore Sun reported. Basing
its account on interviews the Army conducted with 56 of the
recruits at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, the newspaper
said much of the activity involved in the complaints was
consensual. Twenty male serg-eants or instructors at Aberdeen have
been relieved of duty, and 12 of them face courts-martial.
American Electric Power, a holding company for seven US
utilities, was expected to bid $2 billion for publicly owned
Yorkshire Electricity of Britain, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Neither company would comment on the report. The newspaper said
American Electric was likely to be joined in the offer by an
unidentified partner.
The State Department urged caution by all sides as
Cuban-Americans planned to commemorate the downing of two civilian
planes a year ago by President Fidel Castro's forces. Cuban exiles
in south Florida said they would fly dozens of planes over the site
where the Feb. 24 incidents occurred and drop flowers into the
water.
Security procedures at the Empire State Building in New York
were being reviewed after a shooting incident that left two people
dead and six others hurt. The incident took place on the
observation deck, one of the city's most popular attractions. The
gunman, who took his own life, carried documents identifying
himself as a resident of the Gaza Strip.
Except in Western states, gasoline prices across the US have
dropped by more than one cent a gallon this month, industry
analysts said. The Lundberg Survey of 10,000 service stations said
the average price of all grades was just under $1.30 a gallon.
Flooding in Illinois forced hundreds of residents from their
homes, and officials said many more might need to be evacuated. The
Rock River at Erie was more than eight feet above flood stage. The
Illinois River was expected to crest nine feet above flood stage at
Peoria Thursday. …

The rest of this article is only available to active members of Questia

Print this page

While we understand printed pages are helpful to our users, this limitation is necessary
to help protect our publishers' copyrighted material and prevent its unlawful distribution.
We are sorry for any inconvenience.